DETROIT (Michigan News Source) – Detroit’s cash bail system will be changing after a settlement was reached following a federal class-action lawsuit which was brought by the ACLU, the Legal Defense Fund, the Bail Project and the law firm Covington & Burling.
The suit, which was filed on behalf of seven black Detroit residents, challenged the bail system as disproportionately incarcerating black and brown people and dependent on the capability to afford bail.
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The agreement, which lasts two to five years, will limit the use of cash bail. Judges will release a defendant on a conditional personal recognizance bond unless upon reviewing the evidence of the case, the judge decides that the defendant poses a flight risk or a danger to the public.
If cash bail is used, then the court will look at the defendant’s ability to pay the money, while assuming that anyone making below 200% of the federal poverty guidelines ($27,000 for an individual or $55,000 for a four person family) cannot pay cash bail.
According to a featured story in the Michigan Bar Journal in February of this year titled “Bail reform – the time is now,” they say that it is “beyond dispute that a defendant’s pretrial incarceration impacts legal outcomes” that include inducing guilty pleas, causing defendants to plead in order to speed their release from jail. They continue to say that pretrial detention leads to higher conviction rates and lengthier sentences.
Kym Worthy, the Wayne County prosecutor, whose office wasn’t part of the settlement process, is afraid that the change in the cash bail system could affect offenses such as drunk driving or domestic violence. She said in a statement, “We have recently seen disturbing results when defendants with violet crimes are given inappropriate bonds. I am not at all convinced this is the solution for serious felonies.”
With this new settlement, an ill-fated judge’s decision will be all that stands between a criminal defendant and the safety of the Detroit community.
Recently it was a judge’s decision in Michigan not to grant an order of protection to Tirany Savage against her armed and dangerous husband Bo which led to a murdersuicide with her husband killing her, her son and mother and then killing himself. She had reported that her husband suffered from a mental illness, had a gun and repeatedly
threatened her however the judge denied her request citing “insufficient evidence.”
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The reduction of bail for those in poverty doesn’t take into account the fact that those committing the crimes are doing so because they are poor. Judges will be releasing criminals to commit even more crimes over and over again if there are no adequate determents.
According to a 2021 study by Joseph Quednau at the Illinois University, there is a significant correlation between poverty and violent crime rates. The study concludes, “individuals committing crimes are rational actors because their choices to commit crimes have the highest marginal benefit to them. This then argues that those who
commit crimes expect the net benefits to be positive. Since criminals expect to benefit from committing a crime, I hypothesize that when poverty increases, violent crime rates will also increase. My findings throughout this paper support this claim that there is a direct correlation between poverty and violent crime rates.”
Phil Mayor, a senior staff attorney with the ACLU, said at the news conference discussing the Detroit settlement, “This is a historic day for Detroit and a day that will be important for justice in the city for years to come.”
Eric Holder, former U.S. Attorney General under President Barack Obama, was also at the press conference announcing the settlement. He said, “This is how our criminal justice system should work and I commend the 36th District Court for reaching this important agreement. It can, and should be, a model for other jurisdictions across the
country.”
